A Pair of Top Yahoos Depart, While Another Is Promoted (With More to Come)

According to sources, two high-ranking Yahoo execs have departed the company — longtime strategy exec Raymond Stern and advertising exec Liz Ritzcovan.

Stern — whose recent Yahoo title has been SVP of business development and partnerships — was hired at the Silicon Valley Internet giant in 2009, and has held a number of jobs in areas such as business development, audience, mobile and local. Ritzcovan has been at the company since early 2011, most currently as a VP of marketing solutions.

Meanwhile, SVP of advertising and data platforms Scott Burke has been elevated to the executive staff, reporting directly to CEO Marissa Mayer. Sources said Mayer has put him in charge of all ad tech platforms in a continuing product overhaul at Yahoo.

As March approaches — a time when stock options and bonus payments come due — insiders at Yahoo said to expect a lot of such talent movement within the company. Sources also noted that Mayer has been working hard to bring in new execs from outside Yahoo, but has been having a harder time than she expected recruiting high-level talent.

I think the NSA has a job to do and we need the NSA. But as (physicist) Robert Oppenheimer said, “When you see something that is technically sweet, you go ahead and do it and argue about what to do about it only after you’ve had your technical success. That is the way it was with the atomic bomb.”

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